SNES Game Review: Tecmo Super Bowl II: Special Edition

Tecmo Super Bowl is a cult sort of video game.  Much like Chrono Trigger, Halo, Madden, Mario, and the most vocal cult, Final Fantasy.  The fact that Tecmo Bowl started on the NES and gained a following naturally made the belief that it would succeed on the SNES when it came out.  And yes, yes it did.  So much so they made two more editions.  The second of which I just completed, which had much revamped graphics, updated rosters (for 1994 that is) and the teams that still were around.  I succeeded my quest in winning the Super Bowl with my favorite team, the Green Bay Packers (by somehow beating the Cowboys and 49ers in the playoffs, more on that in a bit.)  With that, I figured I have beaten the game so might as well do a review for it.  So below here's what I thought the game was good at and not as good at.  Also, with it being the second edition to the trilogy of Tecmo games, I'll compare it to the first one.

Pros:

1. Revamped graphics: Super Nintendo was a system where every video game producer seemingly had to revamp their graphics unless you wanted a garbage fire of a game or sequel.  Tecmo wasn't any different.  From Tecmo Super Bowl (just look at any longplay of it) the graphics were made a lot like the NES counterpart.  Tecmo Super Bowl II is far, far different.  More of a real-life scenario feel to the game was what happened.  Tecmo I thought did the best job they could in revamping themselves and it honestly proved highly successful. 
2. More realistic gameplay: I think the second Tecmo game plays more realistically than the first.  For instance, if there is a stat for a player (and I didn't take all the time in the world to find this out so I am sorry) then they have that stat like throwing power, accuracy, speed and so on.  For instance, Emmitt Smith has good power running, Sterling Sharpe is quick and tough to tackle, Brett Favre has a rocket arm and so on.  The one thing with the first Tecmo game was most of the time at any play, a trick play worked.  In the second game, they only at times worked and teams don't use them every single play like they did in the first game if they wanted. 
3. Fluidity of play: This game is very fluid.  They likely didn't follow the NFL rules like in real life when they made the game because the game clock sometimes burned an extra six to seven seconds off of a play before you got to the play screen.  That actually makes the game go by quicker and more easy for a person.  If you wanted to get a quick game before work, meeting people or going to sleep, you probably could.  A regular game is typically at max thirty minutes, comparing that with Madden today which can be up to an hour.

Cons:

1. Realism of teams: Okay, the Packers in real-life in 1994 were not a Super Bowl team, and yet I won with them.  The Houston Oilers were awful in 1994, but in the game made the playoffs.  The New England Patriots and Cleveland Browns made the playoffs in real-life but were at best average in the game.  The realism of the teams was one thing that I thought in retrospect could have been better in the 1994 time.  
2. Playbooks: This may more be due to the times rather than Tecmo itself but the playbook itself is much of the same in Tecmo I and Tecmo II.  This isn't really a major slight, because practically every football game had that sort of thing in the 90's.  It really wasn't until the PS2 came out that playbooks became much more serious.  So this isn't a major slight against Tecmo, but some difference would have been pretty cool.
3. Weather effects: This is a little better than the first Tecmo, but it may have been another sign of the era of video games rather than Tecmo itself.  The weather effects were better in this game, but they still could have been improved upon.

Comparison to the first Tecmo: I feel like the second game plays a lot, lot better than the first game.  The gameplay is a lot better in the second game and is more fluid than the first game.  The playbooks are mirror images of each other so that is basically a wash.  I feel the teams in Tecmo II however are not as overall updated in terms of realism like Tecmo I was.  That ended up being a major downside for me.  

Final Impression: In most aspects a grade up from Tecmo I.  This is honestly one of the top 10 football games on the SNES.  However, in terms of spectrum of where it ranks all-time, that would be lower tier of the top 150.  I would probably rank it around 125th.  I think the fact of the realism of teams in my eye isn't there, and it really hurts the value of the game.  I still would recommend it if you play football games.